Zomer and Peters Repeat as Knoxville Feature Winners
Saturday, June 9, 2007
by Bob Wilson - Dusty Zomer and Jake Peters each drove to feature event wins at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. Both Sioux Falls (S. Dak.)drivers had won previously this season.
Zomer, who started in the third row, chased front row starters Brent Antill and Wayne Johnson in the early going. A yellow flag led to a single file restart and a Zomer pass of Johnson. Right away another yellow was displayed and on the ensuing restart Zomer gave Antill all he could handle for one lap. As that duo forged into lap six, Zomer slid Antill and took the lead as he exited turn two. The top five at this point showed Antill, Skip Jackson, Johnson and Calvin Landis trailing Zomer.
The final slowdown of the race came on lap eight after Landis tagged the fence. Zomer had checked out on the twenty-car field in his Maxim/Weseman with Lenard McCarl on the wrenches.
On lap nine an ugly incident in turn two saw Antill and Brian Brown fall backward. This near gillhooley allowed Kaley Gharst to jump to fifth, just behind Alley. But Brown, who was on a mission, was not finished yet.
As the laps wound down, Zomer entered into lap traffic on the 15th go around. By then, Brown had reclaimed fifth but Zomer had covered the field and was a full chute ahead of second running Jackson.
When the checkers flew, Zomer claimed the $3,000 first place prize money and padded his lead in the Knoxville Championship Cup Series. Jackson, Johnson, Brown and Alley trailed. Completing the top ten finishers were Gharst, Antill, Ricky Logan, Mark Dobmeier and Dennis Moore, Jr., who started 20th. Twenty-seven 410 sprinters competed on the evening.
Defending 360 track champion, Jake Peters made it two feature wins in a row with a sound spanking of the 20-car field in that division. Peters took the lead on lap two and never looked back in claiming his 10th career win here while driving his own Schnee/Weseman.
Behind him a battle brewed for runner-up honors and that honor was claimed by Josh Higday who was unable to challenge Peters on this night. David Hall, who led only the first lap, had a career finish in claiming third. Joe Beaver took fourth after having started eleventh. Fifth went to Natalie Sather, who gained the highest finish for a woman in a feature event in the history of this storied track.
Completing the top ten were Jesse Giannetto, Mike Houseman, Jr., Matt Moro, Brett Mather and Greg Bakker. The 360 division saw a field of 36 sprinters. For complete results click on the yellow RESULTS button on the menu strip.
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